New Orleans wide receiver Michael Thomas is teaming up with Raising Cane’s to donate meals to healthcare workers in New Orleans. — Photo courtesy of CBS Sports

NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans record-breaking wide receiver Michael Thomas and Raising Cane’s are teaming up to provide 3,000 meals to frontline workers throughout the greater New Orleans area. The majority of the meals will be distributed to Ochsner Health system facilities across the region.

“I wanted to do my part and support our frontline healthcare workers who are caring for so many in our community,” said Thomas in a statement. “I thought they would enjoy having some Cane’s during their shift. And I’m grateful to my friend, Todd Graves, for joining me in letting our healthcare workers know how much they are appreciated.”

“We all have a role to play in this crisis, and our healthcare workers’ role is the most important,” said Raising Cane’s Founder & CEO Todd Graves. “So when Michael called me wanting to feed healthcare workers, I matched his donation. I’m proud to call Michael a friend — his effort off the field is as admirable as it is on the field.”

Raising Cane’s Restaurants, which are based out of Baton Rouge, across the country have been providing meals for healthcare workers directly and through partnerships with non-profits and other groups and individuals such as Thomas. Additionally, Raising Cane’s dine-in only restaurants have shifted operations to make masks instead of chicken fingers. Staff have begun sewing three-ply cloth masks to ease the shortage at hospitals, donating thousands of masks to healthcare facilities in Southeast Louisiana and across the country.

In his first four seasons in the NFL, Thomas has rewrote the Saints and NFL record books. Thomas enters the 2020 season with 470 receptions for 5,512 yards and 32 touchdowns while earning Pro Bowl honors three times, first-team All-Pro honors twice and was named The Associated Press Offensive Player of the Year in 2019.